Partiallypurple

FINALLY pulled the trigger and bought a Dynavin for the E46. This was a mod that I always put off because of the expensive $900+ price tag, but finally I pulled the trigger and did it. 
It was so worth it! It makes daily driving the car so much better. The quality of the unit is amazing. The Applecar play is super fast and the touchscreen is easy to use. The steering wheel controls all still work, and the radio looks like it could have come in the car from the factory. I also ordered a brand new OEM tray to relocate the AC controls rather than using their bracket they make. 
(also bought a new OEM tray/coin collector to make the center console area completely brand new looking! 
 

FINALLY pulled the trigger and bought a Dynavin for the E46. This was a mod that I always put off because of the expensive $900+ price tag, but finally I pulled the trigger and did it. 
It was so worth it! It makes daily driving the car so much better. The quality of the unit is amazing. The Applecar play is super fast and the touchscreen is easy to use. The steering wheel controls all still work, and the radio looks like it could have come in the car from the factory. I also ordered a brand new OEM tray to relocate the AC controls rather than using their bracket they make. 
(also bought a new OEM tray/coin collector to make the center console area completely brand new looking! 
 

I went out of my way to login to WIBimmers this morning specifically so I could find the post I knew you would make about this car, and flag it as Liked.

Just picked up a very nice 1999 Z3M Coupe this past weekend. Only 56k on the clock. Originally cosmos over black, repainted very well back in 2005 in Laguna Seca Blue. Can't wait to start modifying it! Stock currently, other than H&R springs. First order of business is finding some oem headlights. 

Two small projects down:
Got the car back on the road after upgrading the pressure accumulator and coolant reservoir. 

IMG_8958.mov

Also I forgot to add that I did refresh the brakes, the nastiest part of the car. The car is completely rust free, but these brakes were nasty.  Was going to go with some 135i brakes, but ended up just doing stop-tech rotors/refinishing ZHP calipers for now. Maybe next year! 
 
The entire front end of the car, along with the rear bumper also got resprayed before I left. The car had a decent amount of rock chips that always drove me insane & the back bumper got bumped downtown last winter. 

Also I forgot to add that I did refresh the brakes, the nastiest part of the car. The car is completely rust free, but these brakes were nasty.  Was going to go with some 135i brakes, but ended up just doing stop-tech rotors/refinishing ZHP calipers for now. Maybe next year! 
 
The entire front end of the car, along with the rear bumper also got resprayed before I left. The car had a decent amount of rock chips that always drove me insane & the back bumper got bumped downtown last winter. 

Also I forgot to add that I did refresh the brakes, the nastiest part of the car. The car is completely rust free, but these brakes were nasty.  Was going to go with some 135i brakes, but ended up just doing stop-tech rotors/refinishing ZHP calipers for now. Maybe next year! 
 
The entire front end of the car, along with the rear bumper also got resprayed before I left. The car had a decent amount of rock chips that always drove me insane & the back bumper got bumped downtown last winter. 

Helen was amazing! I cannot wait to go back next year. 
 
The car did run into a few issues. With the 90 degree/high humidity weather, the car would get hot at idle. Came to find out that the M3's have a puller fan in front of the radiator that plays a huge roll in keeping the car cool at idle. So I will be installing that in the next few days. I will also be ditching the fan clutch and going back to the OEM ZHP electric fan. Other than that, the car handles absolutely amazing in the mountains and had no problem keeping up with my friends 997 C4S! We got to shred the backroads with a ton of R8'S, GT3'S, M2'S, M5's, a ton of nicely modified VW's, and a ton of other cars. 
If this does not fix my problem, I am going to go ahead and do a complete cooling system refresh. Lets hope this fixes the problem. Here are a few photos of the car from the trip! 
I also before I left spent a good amount of time cleaning up the engine bay, and polishing the VANOS unit.

Also I forgot to add that I did refresh the brakes, the nastiest part of the car. The car is completely rust free, but these brakes were nasty.  Was going to go with some 135i brakes, but ended up just doing stop-tech rotors/refinishing ZHP calipers for now. Maybe next year! 
 
The entire front end of the car, along with the rear bumper also got resprayed before I left. The car had a decent amount of rock chips that always drove me insane & the back bumper got bumped downtown last winter. 

Im going to be changing to rubber soon. Was just curious if you had urethane and how the diff whine was.
What a great car! 

All check engine lights are officially clear! Exhaust is finished, ended up using full m3 exhaust into the ZHP muffler. In order for the m3 exhaust to properly clear the trans mounts, part of it had to be heated up and bent, but all worked out perfectly. 
Some detailing/paint/brake work and then we are off to Sowo in Helen, GA for some mountain backroads! 
 

All check engine lights are officially clear! Exhaust is finished, ended up using full m3 exhaust into the ZHP muffler. In order for the m3 exhaust to properly clear the trans mounts, part of it had to be heated up and bent, but all worked out perfectly. 
Some detailing/paint/brake work and then we are off to Sowo in Helen, GA for some mountain backroads! 
 

All check engine lights are officially clear! Exhaust is finished, ended up using full m3 exhaust into the ZHP muffler. In order for the m3 exhaust to properly clear the trans mounts, part of it had to be heated up and bent, but all worked out perfectly. 
Some detailing/paint/brake work and then we are off to Sowo in Helen, GA for some mountain backroads! 
 

Minor update that's been annoying the shit out of me.  New emblems!  The flag on the M3 emblem was faded and the front had some minor things going on.  The rear emblem really didn't need it until I took a chunk out taking it off but it made sense to just get all of them right away.

I pulled one side rear fender and will start working on the other side.

Helmut by w grync,

I cut the inner fender and pulled until it started to dent the outer then i backed up a bit. I welded piece of sheet metal to the inner to fill the gap. I will prime with epoxy and seam sea the shit out of it. 


I got my new Mig setup its the everlast i-mig200e. I have only experience with some crappy 60 amp mig and inverter tig machine. So far i am impressed with that new mig.

Helmut by w grync,



I migged the front lollipop mounts together. And will weld them to the frame rails later this week.

Helmut by w grync

Helmut by w grync,

I had to notch the rear frame rail to clear the triling arm.

Helmut by w grync



Trailing arms with the new shock mounts tacked in.

Helmut by w grync,

Helmut by w grync,




 

Made some small improvements today. Got the tune setup to delete the Evap control circuit codes and realized I never plugged in my ambient air sensor. Got that plugged in and I finally have no check engine light. I also actually know what temperature it is outside now so thats nice. (Showed 128 degrees before constantly) 
The one thing I am not going to run temporarily is a washer fluid reservoir because I never ever use my washer fluid and it's one less thing in the engine bay. I got rid of this light by putting a resistor on the plug. 
Getting the AC charged and muffler put on Friday by a local shop! Need that ICE for the drive to Helen, GA in a few weeks. 
I drove the car to Illinois and back for a cars and coffee and it did amazing. Very excited for the upcoming trip back to the cars home state to terrorize some twisty roads 😈

Made some small improvements today. Got the tune setup to delete the Evap control circuit codes and realized I never plugged in my ambient air sensor. Got that plugged in and I finally have no check engine light. I also actually know what temperature it is outside now so thats nice. (Showed 128 degrees before constantly) 
The one thing I am not going to run temporarily is a washer fluid reservoir because I never ever use my washer fluid and it's one less thing in the engine bay. I got rid of this light by putting a resistor on the plug. 
Getting the AC charged and muffler put on Friday by a local shop! Need that ICE for the drive to Helen, GA in a few weeks. 
I drove the car to Illinois and back for a cars and coffee and it did amazing. Very excited for the upcoming trip back to the cars home state to terrorize some twisty roads 😈

Took the car for a drive, everything is fixed and driving amazing! Just need a muffler setup welded on and we're done! 
(also have to finish some coding to remove the DSC and engine light due to steering angle sensor which is to be removed) 
Love this thing. 

And thats a wrap! (Almost)
The car runs and drives, after 5 hard working days! Things swapped were, S54 (OBVI), m3 fuel tank with pumps/lines, m3 cooling system, m3 DME, etc etc. 
If anyone has any questions about the swap, please feel free to ask, I would love to help. It was very hard gathering all of the things needed to make this work and I want to help spread the word on whats all necessary. 
the last problem I have to sort out is an o2 issue. I believe I have the ordering wrong, and am going to look into that tonight as the car is getting misfires on 1-3 and lean/rich codes.
I do have the air duct for the radiator support, just need to grab some clips for it.
 









 

Took the car for a drive, everything is fixed and driving amazing! Just need a muffler setup welded on and we're done! 
(also have to finish some coding to remove the DSC and engine light due to steering angle sensor which is to be removed) 
Love this thing. 

Took the car for a drive, everything is fixed and driving amazing! Just need a muffler setup welded on and we're done! 
(also have to finish some coding to remove the DSC and engine light due to steering angle sensor which is to be removed) 
Love this thing. 

This thing continues to get better. Let me know when you want to sell it.

And thats a wrap! (Almost)
The car runs and drives, after 5 hard working days! Things swapped were, S54 (OBVI), m3 fuel tank with pumps/lines, m3 cooling system, m3 DME, etc etc. 
If anyone has any questions about the swap, please feel free to ask, I would love to help. It was very hard gathering all of the things needed to make this work and I want to help spread the word on whats all necessary. 
the last problem I have to sort out is an o2 issue. I believe I have the ordering wrong, and am going to look into that tonight as the car is getting misfires on 1-3 and lean/rich codes.
I do have the air duct for the radiator support, just need to grab some clips for it.
 









 

Bravo!